Improvement in trace-buckles



'thrilled Q-States parte anpe,

,lA/MES THORNTON AND CHARLES F. DEMMEN, .OF WELLSVILLE, NEW YORK, SAID DEMMEN ASSIGNOR TO SAID THORNTON.

Letters .Patent No. 102,333, dated April 26, 1870.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters'Patent and making part of the same.

To all lwhom 'it may conce/m:

Be it known that we, J AMES Tnonxros and CHARLES F. DEMMLEN, both of Wellsville, in the county of Allegany and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement` in Trace- Buckles; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, sufficientto enable those skilledjin the art to which our invention appertains to fully understand and to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying Ydrawing forming part of this specication, and in which- Figure lis a top view of our buckle applied to a trace;

Figure 2, an inverted plan view;

Figure, a side view; and

Figure 4, a longitudinal central section of the buckle and trace.-

This invention consists in providing the 'frame' of the buckle with a stationary bottom, wedge-formed in its longitudinal section, over which the trace passes; and

Also, in the provision of an automatic sliding tongue frame, so constructed as to adapt itself to the thickness of the trace, and operating in connection with the bottom plate to hold and release .the trace, as hereinafter more fully described.

lhe nature of the invention willbe fully understood from the following detail description of the drawings, wherein similar leters of reference indicate like parts in the several gnres.

A represents a plate forming the bottom of the buckle-frame and attached thereto.

This plate will generally be made tapering in thickness, as shown clearly in fig. 4, to form a wedge, for a purpose to be hereinafter described, and provided with an open slot, a, to receive the end of the tongue which projects on the under side, when the trace to which the buckle is applied is rather thin.

W'e do not limit onrselvesto the wedge-form of the plate A, asa bottom of uniform thickness can be made to answer the purpose.

B is a plate carrying the tongue b and cast with a rounded tubular portion, c. A

',lhis plate is hinged in a frame, C, by a screw or rivet, d, passing'throngh the tubular portion of the tongue-plate, and having its bearings in the arms e c, which, in connection with the cross-bar f, to lwhich they are attached, form the frame C.

The arms c e pass through slots g g in the plate A of the buckle, thus .allowing .the tongue-plate and frame a sliding movement, for a purpose to be hereinafter mentioned.

The cross-bar f, which may be either round, ilat, oval, or of any other suitable form in its cross-section, is in contact with the under side of plate A, and* moves back and forth thereon.

D represents the haine-tug, to which the buckle is attached 5 and h h are loops with which the tug may be provided.

E is the traces In order to take up or shorten the trace, itis only necessary to push or draw it forward` toward the hames, the sliding tongue-frame being carried with the trace until the arms e e strike the ends of the slots g g, when the hingedplate B is immediately thrown up, releasing the trace, which is then drawn forward until the hole into which the tongue is to enter is just in front of the latter, the tongue not entering the holes in the strap until the movement of the latter is reversed, when the plate B falls and the tongue enters the rst hole, thus securing the trace.

The falling of the plate B and the catching of the tongue is caused by the friction of the strap or traceon the part c of the plate, which is, virtually, an cc- A centric; or, the falling ofthe plate may be sometimes caused by" gravity; and, again, by the combined influences of gravity and friction. l

'lhe tongue frequently falls and engages the strap before the frame C, which iscarried backward by the trace, comes in contact with 'the rear end of the slots g.

To let out or lengthen the trace the operation just described is reversed.

One of the principal advantages of our buckle consists in its perfect and automatic adaptation to various thicknesses of traces. This is the result of the peculiar construction and combination of the bottom plate, hinged tongue-plate, and sliding frame; the latter being capable of assumingsuch a position with relation to the bottom as to bring the plate B nearer to or further from the same, whereby the buckle is made to adapt itself perfectly to the trace, whether the same consists of a single thickness or a number of thicknesses of leather.

rlhe advantage in making the bottom plate tapering iu thickness is this:

When it is desired to adjust the length of the trace, the tongue-frame is moved from the thick to the thin portion of the wedge, which allows the easy movement of the trace back and fort-l1, the arms e e being at right angles to the bottom plate. y This result can, however, be accomplished with a plate of uniform thickness, the arms c e being made slightly longer in proportion than is here shown, so that, when said arms occupy a position at right angles to the plate A,

there will be sufficient space for the trace to pass easily through the buckle.

The entire buckle will be generally made in thr'ee pieces, all cast; one, the frame, with the bottom plate;

another, the sliding frame 5 and third, the tongue end plate, exclusive of the screw Aor rivet, which connects the tongue-plate to the sliding,r frame.

` The frame may be made withor without loops and of suitable form or size to :ida-pt thel buckle for single or diublc harness; and it can be ornemented, if desire The simplicity and durability of our buckle, combined with its feature of self-adj ust-ment und the automatic operation of the tongue-plate, will especially re. commend it as a valuable improvement.

Ve are aware that a. buckle has been made with a stationary bottom, of which only the upper side is inclined. This construction we do notwish to claim, as it cannot produce the result desired, and which we obtain by making said plate wedge-shaped or with an inclinedl lower face.

Having thus described our invention,

Wha-t We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A plete, A, cast with the buckle-frame, when its lunder side is inclined, substantially as shown and de Witnesses for THORNTON: GEO. W. ROTHWELL, CEAS. L. DU Bois.

Witnesses for DEMMEN:

GEO. H. BLAGKMAN, D. DoBBrNs. 

